Okay, the “easy” plan using Google maps turned out to be… not so great. Love Google’s interface, just not so much the execution. If it has a name, Google will tell you that you can ride it on a bicycle. Even if the pavement turns into a dirt road… that goes through an Air Force bombing range.
By the time we had gone a few miles in the soft gravel it was evident even the newly acquired hybrid bike wasn’t going to work, and we found another route. But nearly 8 hours in the heat, dust, and increasing smoke from a fire 200 miles away (pray for Pocatello!) had me struggling to breathe after only 3 1/2 hours of actual riding, and a grueling 20 miles, so we called it a day.
Got home last evening and revamped the plan – we stopped at a truck stop on the way home for gas, and found a Trucker’s Atlas, so got that – will be marking the map and only taking roads that big rigs could drive on (or paved trails through cities – yeah, I’ll cave on that part). Paper wins the day for the planning portion.
Happy riding!
